The people are supreme

Praising the President's call for 'stability'

There is some expectation that the political landscape after the coming general election may become more fractured than it is at the moment. The illusion of stability provided since 2009, when the Congress party got 200-plus seats, might shatter. Of course, if the Bharatiya Janata Party, energised by its choice of Narendra Modi as prime ministerial candidate, gets as many seats as some opinion polls suggest it might, then the problem will not be acute. But there is no reason to state categorically that India's pollsters have got it right or the situation will not change in the next four months before the elections. The smart money is still on a fractured verdict - with the eventual outcome rendered even more uncertain by the dramatic arrival on the scene of the Aam Aadmi Party, and its unheralded ascent to power in Delhi.

In such circumstances, the role of the President takes on considerable weight. The current incumbent of the office, Pranab Mukherjee, has decades of experience in the corridors of power and a formidable grasp of history and precedent. Naturally, his speeches will be examined closely for signs of how he will act after the general election results are in. On Republic Day, President Mukherjee used the traditional occasion of his speech to the nation to discuss the nature of government that India needs. He chose to emphasise that "a fractured government, hostage to whimsical opportunists", would be "catastrophic" in 2014. It may, or it may not. The point that needs to be stressed here is that the President is armed with arguably large amounts of discretion in the event of a hung Lok Sabha and a disputed mandate. The first duty for any President is always to discern the will of the people as expressed by a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha. It would not be healthy for people's faith in democracy and elections for some possible coalitions to be dismissed as driven by "opportunists", and some as more stable. After all, the United Progressive Alliance has appeared outwardly stable, but has in fact seethed with contradictions. There is no reason to suppose any other alliance, which has its share of "opportunists", might not both express the will of the electorate and also do its job in terms of stewarding the Indian economy and polity through the difficult times ahead. This is not to suggest in any way that the President will not do his duty as he sees fit. But the dangers of even the appearance of second-guessing the will of the people at this sensitive time in India should also be taken into account.

The President's speech on Republic Day is not vetted by his Cabinet; it is an expression of the incumbent's own views. President Mukherjee's views are valuable, informed as they are by his intellect and experience, and he has every right to express them. However, to the extent that they may prejudge the will of the electorate and the result of the election, declaring one outcome worse than any other, they could cause some concern.